Trace-holder



(No Model.)

J. P. WYNKOOP.

TRACE HOLDER.

Patented Nov. 8, 1892.

Wifgczsses UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEI-IIEL F. WVYNKOOP, OF CORSIOA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRACE-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,825, dated November 8, 1892.

Application filed March 14. 1892. Serial No. 424,927. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J EHIEL F. WYNKooP, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Corsica, in the county of Jefferson and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certa1n new and useful Improvements in Trace- Fasteners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference thereon, forming a part of this specification,in which- I Figure 1 is a top plan of a singletree having attached at either end thereof one of my improved trace-fasteners in the act of holding a trace. Fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view of one end portion of a singletree and one of my improved fasteners attached thereto in the act of holding a trace. Fig. 3 is a top plan similar to one end portion shown in Fig. 1, with the attached trace thereof represented as being pulled sidewise and forcing the outer end portion of the fastener locked against the trace hook or button of the singletree. Fig. 4 is an inverted perspective view of the fastener detached from the singletree, and Fig. 5 is a similar view of the 1bolt for securing the fastener to the singleree.

This invention relates to certain improvements in a trace-fastener for fastening or holding a trace upon the trace hook or button of a singletree; and it consists in the particular construction and arrangement of parts, which are fully set forth and explained in the following specification and claim.

Referring to the drawings, 0 represents the singletree, and H the trace hook or button thereof, and D a portion of a trace in position on the hook or button H.

E represents the fastener, and consists of a fiat metal strip bent at right angles at a point each way from its center a distance slightly more than one-half the width of a trace, thus forming a lock sufficiently wide to hold a trace therein, and by means of such bending two parallel arms are formed, which are arranged to extend horizontally toward the center of the singletree and are curved laterally adjacent their end portions in such manner that one will engage the upper and one the lower side of the singletree a short distance from the end thereof, and their end portions are enlarged, as shown, the upper one thereof being provided with a square hole (1 in said enlargement and the lower one thereof with a corresponding rou nd hole (1, and integral with and extending from said integral portion of said lower arm is a bendable portion G, as shown in Fig. l, and in attaching the fastener to a singletree a hole is bored through the singletree corresponding with the holes d d, and a bolt, as shown at K, having a square shank adjacent its head, is placed in said holes with the square shank portion resting in the square hole d of the upper arm, and a nut F is then turned on the screwthreaded end of the bolt against the lower arm.

The purpose of the square. hole d of the fastener-arm and the square shank of the bolt arranged therein is to prevent the bolt from turning independent of the fastener, and to prevent the nut from turning off the bolt to loosen the fastener on the singletree I have provided the bendable extending portion G of the lower fastener-arm,which when the nut F is properly turned on the bolt is bent down against the nut, as shown in Fig. 2, and thus one arm holds thebolt and the other arm holds the nut and neither can i11- dependently turn.

The vertical portion of the fastener-loop is curved, as shown at a, to present a rounded surface against the trace side, which prevents the fastener from cutting or disfiguring the trace, and one of the essential features of the fastener is that all parts thereof which engage the trace are of a sufficiently-broad surface to thoroughly prevent cutting, disfiguring, or excessive wear of the trace.

Another essential feature in this invention is that the fastener is so arranged when attached to a singletree that its vertical portion a will turn back within the forward hollow of the trace hook or button H, as shown in Fig. 3, which position the fastener assumes when ever the trace which is being held is forced outward against it, and thus it is held locked against said trace hook or button in such manner as to prevent it being bent out of proper shape, and, further, by means of said locking the trace is firmly held on its hook or button and cannot be forced 0E, and thus by reason of such locking position of the vertical portion a of the fastener it is held so that side draft on the trace is prevented from straining the remaining portion of the fastener, and therefore prevents the trace from becoming detached, whereas Were it not for such locking any excessive side strain or draft on the trace would strain the fastener and cause a liability to detach the trace and-per-' haps cause disaster.

In devices of this class heretofore constructed the connecting bolt or pivot has been liable to become loose by accidental unscrewing and disconnection of the securing-nut, and consequently a very inconvenient form of fastening resulted. The device herein set forth is designed to obviate the said difficulty and inconvenience by having the bolt locked to the fastener, so that when the latter is turned the bolt will turn therewith and the nut is prevented from workingwloose.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

The combination, with a singletree provided with a trace hook or button, of a flat metal strip bent into U shape with laterally-projecting arms, each of said arms being formed with an enlargement at the free end thereof, one of said enlargements having a square hole therein and the other enlargement formed with a round hole and also provided with a bendable lip, a bolt having a head and a square portion adjacent to said head that is passed through the enlargement with the square hole therein, the remaining portion of said bolt beingpassed through the singletree and the opposite enlargement having the round hole therein and projecting above said latter enlargement, and a nut fitted to the said projecting portion of the bolt'and held against accidental rotatable movement by the aforesaid bendable lip that is brought to bear as described.

JEHIEL F. WVYNKOOP.

Witnesses:

FRANK LAMBERT, G. W. WYMAN. 

